Just like its three predecessors, “BCCIV” was overseen by Kevin Shirley, whose catalogue of hit records for LED ZEPPELIN, IRON MAIDEN, AEROSMITH, JOURNEY and THE BLACK CROWES has made him one of the hottest producers that rock music has to offer. Shirley, who originally had the idea of putting Hughes and Bonamassa in a band after seeing them jamming together onstage in Los Angeles back in November 2009, is the group’s unofficial ‘fifth member’.

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION is an earth-shattering combination of American and British rock influences — a bona fide super group that conveys to the world a simple but important message: classic rock is alive and well, and in good hands in the 21st century. Their communion together forms something that is greater than the sum of its parts, creating a legacy being cemented within the halls of music history.

The initiative for the new album came from Joe Bonamassa, who contacted the band in 2016 to see if they would be up for going back into the studio to write and record a fourth album.

Says Joe: “I just felt the time was right for BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION to go back into the studio and write and record a new album. When I contacted Glenn, Derek and Jason, they immediately agreed to give it shot. The timing was right.”

During October 2016, when news first broke about the band getting back together, things on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, started blowing up and fan reaction was overwhelming. It was clear to see that BCC fans were hungry for another album. “BCCIV” is destined to become one of the biggest hard rock albums of 2017.

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION‘s inception took place when frontman and bass guitarist Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa fused their styles on stage in Los Angeles in November 2009 for an explosive performance at Guitar Center‘s King Of The Blues event. With the help and guidance of producer Kevin Shirley, they further added to their rock lineage by recruiting drummer Jason Bonham and keyboardist Derek Sherinian.

Taking their name from the industrial area in Britain, and the birthplace of both Hughes and Bonham, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION released their self-titled debut album in 2010, and with that, unleashed their brand of take-no-prisoners hard rock to a world thirsting for music with substance.

Following the release of another two studio albums, 2011’s well-received “Black Country Communion 2” and 2012’s equally impressive “Afterglow”, plus a smoldering live CD released in 2011, “Live Over Europe”, the band has firmly established themselves as one of hard rock’s premier acts. The band took a hiatus in 2013 and focused on their successful solo careers.

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION has cultivated a reputation not only as amazing songwriters, but as a powerful live act, is only exceeded by their dedication to their craft, and a willingness to challenge and motivate each other to make the best music they can.

Now, seven years on from its inception, Bonamassa feels the time is right to bring the original BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION lineup back for album No. 4.

“We had around four months to write this album, and I think the results speak for themselves,” comments Glenn Hughes. “All four of us wanted to make a record that stood up to the first three albums. However, the new album is more of a progression, as we wanted to be careful not to repeat the previous albums. A lot has happened since we last recorded the ‘Aferglow’ album in 2013, so, in many ways, the new album shows BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION with a much harder, riffier and bigger and bolder sound. If you’re looking for a folk album, this ain’t the one.”

The band assembled to record “BCCIV” at Cave Studios in Los Angeles in December 2016. The album was mixed at Cave Studios in Sydney in March 2017. The songs on “BCCIV” will appeal to all fans of high quality hard rock, also those that admire singers of distinction. Hughes is not known as The Voice of Rock for nothing.

In terms of content, “BCCIV” expands upon the progression that took place between the first three albums. With an abundance of heavy riffs, undeniable hooks, melodic flair and infectious choruses, “BCCIV” is a spectacular album that gets bigger and bolder with repeated spins.

“I wanted the new album to physically shake your soul. It’s a wake-up call.” explains Hughes.

All songs on the new album were co-written by Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa. Glenn wrote all the lyrics on the album except for the song “The Last Song For My Resting Place”, which was written by Joe.

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION has announced two exclusive concerts in Europe during January 2018 to support of “BCCIV”. The band will play Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Tuesday, January 2 and London Hammersmith Apollo on Thursday, January 4.

These will be the only two concerts the band will play in Europe. Planet Rock will run a 48-hour ticket pre-sale from 9 a.m. on Wednesday, August 2.

Tickets will then go on sale to the general public from 0844 844 0444 and can be booked online from Ticketmaster.co.uk and Eventim.co.uk.

ARCH ENEMY will embark on a headlining tour this fall in support of its new album, “Will To Power”, due out September 8 via Century Media Records.

The first leg of the trek will take the band across Eastern Europe from September 15 until October 11 with support act JINJER. The second round of dates will take place in early 2018 — from January 12 until February 7 — across Western Europe and feature support from WINTERSUN, TRIBULATION and JINJER.

ARCH ENEMY bandleader and chief songwriter Michael Amott comments: “Very happy to already announce our ‘Will To Power’ European headline tour for early 2018. We can’t wait to get back out there with a new fresh ARCH ENEMY show full of cool surprises! And what a lineup! We have assembled a killer tour package with some amazing bands for you. WINTERSUN, TRIBULATION and JINJER are all bands with their own unique and impressive live performances. This all adds up to an epic night of metal that should not be missed!”

Finnish metallists WINTERSUN commented, “We’re super excited to announce that we will be supporting the mighty ARCH ENEMY on their European tour in January-February 2018! Hope to see you all there!”

Labelmates TRIBULATION added: “It is happening again! We are returning to the road in conjunction with the release of our new album, first stop Europe with no other than ARCH ENEMY. See you all soon!”

JINJER chimed in, stating, “We are literally counting the days until this tour starts! It’s everything that we’ve been working up to for the past few years: bigger venues, bigger crowds and smashing the stage every night with the likes of a heavy metal giant like ARCH ENEMY. This tour will be one for the record books for sure!”

Co-produced by Amott and drummer Daniel Erlandsson, “Will To Power” was mixed and mastered by longtime collaborator and friend Jens Bogren (OPETH, AT THE GATES, DIMMU BORGIR). The disc’s captivating cover artwork was designed by Alex Reisfar.

“Will To Power” marks the second ARCH ENEMY album since the departure of longtime singer Angela Gossow and addition of her replacement, former THE AGONIST frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz. It will also be the first ARCH ENEMY disc to feature guitarist Jeff Loomis (ex-NEVERMORE), who joined the band in late 2014.

One thing Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee liked to do throughout their years together in MOTÖRHEAD was grab a favorite song by another artist and give it a good old fashioned “Motörheading.” To run them through the Motörizer, if you will. To rock them, roll them and even give them an extra twist and edge.

In celebration of some of those finest moments, the band will release “Under Cöver”, a collection of some of their best covers, and a collection which will include the previously unreleased version of David Bowie‘s timeless classic “Heroes”. Recorded during the “Bad Magic” sessions in 2015 by Cameron Webb, it was one of the last songs the band recorded together.

“It’s such a great Bowie song, one of his best, and I could only see great things coming out of it from us, and so it proved to be,” says Phil Campbell, “and Lemmy ended up loving our version.”

“He was very, very proud of it,” says Mikkey Dee, “not only because it turned out so well but because it was fun! Which is what projects like this should be — fun!”

To that ethic, the rest of the album contains loud and proud, raucous and raging rock ‘n’ roll takes on the likes of “God Save The Queen” (SEX PISTOLS), “Cat Scratch Fever” (TED NUGENT), “Rockaway Beach” (THE RAMONES), “Breaking The Law” (JUDAS PRIEST) and “Whiplash” (METALLICA) which earned the band a Grammy in 2005 for “Best Metal Performance.”

“We were happy with them at the time and we’re happy with them now!” affirms Campbell, while Dee says, “We should remember that it’s about having some fun with songs that we all loved.”

Guitar wizards Vinnie Moore (UFO) and Gus G. (FIREWIND, OZZY OSBOURNE) will hit the road for some shows together in November and December. This is Moore‘s first solo tour since 2015, and will mark the first time these two powerhouse players have toured together. The show will feature music from both guitarists’ impressive catalogs.

Says Vinnie: “Gus and I met years back in Greece. I brought him up onstage to jam a couple tunes with me and we had a great energy together and had a blast. I knew that night that I would like to do some shows with him at some point. He’s a very talented guitarist. Am really looking forward to some Gunslingin’ with Gus.”

From his first release, “Mind’s Eye”, in 1987 through 2015’s “Aerial Visions”, Vinnie Moore has set the standard for instrumental guitar albums by delivering soulful songs that feature his signature crackling guitar solos along with memorable melodic lines.

Gus comments: “Touring with Vinnie Moore is yet another dream come true for me. His album ‘Mind’s Eye’ has had a huge impact on me as I consider it somewhat as a shred guitar ‘bible.’ I spent countless hours learning his licks as a teenager. We met and got to jam few years ago and have become good buddies since. I’m looking forward to returning to the U.S. and playing guitar for you and sharing the stage with Vinnie! See you soon!”

Sony Music Entertainment and legendary heavy metal band JUDAS PRIEST have announced that “Judas Priest: Road To Valhalla”, a new mobile game for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is now available in the App Store.

The app features stunning new visuals and gameplay set to the iconic songs “Halls Of Valhalla”, “Breaking The Law”, “Turbo Lover”, “Electric Eye”, “Painkiller” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”.

“Judas Priest: Road To Valhalla” innovates by making isolated song stems (drums, vocals, guitar) from the 2016 “Battle Cry” album available to players exclusively within the game.

Using an innovative visual mechanic, players must fill “stem meters” to construct the full song and progress through each level of the game.

“When we set out to make this game, we wanted to give fans a new kind of visual listening experience,” said JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford, who also appears in a series of exclusive video clips throughout the game.

“For the first time, we are making individual stems of our songs available to fans to give them a new and interactive way to engage with some of the best songs from our catalog.”

“Judas Priest: Road To Valhalla” is a joint collaboration between Judas Priest, Sony Music Entertainment, Trinifold Management LLC UK and Babaroga, a leading mobile game studio.

Says JUDAS PRIEST: “Metal maniacs, are you ready to join JUDAS PRIEST on the Road To Valhalla? We are excited to have you take charge and lead the way on the bike and the tour bus! Let the molten metal mayhem begin with the thrill of the ride! Can you claim victory on this perilous journey that leads you into Valhalla?”

As previously reported, JUDAS PRIEST is putting the finishing touches on its long-awaited follow-up to 2014’s “Redeemer Of Souls” album. Helming the sessions for the new disc are the band’s longtime producer Tom Allom, acclaimed British knob-twiddler Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, TESTAMENT, ACCEPT) and engineer Mike Exeter (BLACK SABBATH).

VENOM mainman Conrad “Cronos” Lant has confirmed the band’s plans to release the follow-up to 2015’s “From The Very Depths” album next year. “We’ve already put three songs together for the EP, which was only delayed because there is a backload of vinyl now,” he told Metal Rules in a new interview. “Everybody is buying fucking vinyl, and it’s really hard to get the pressings. The label was doing one, but we couldn’t get in. So, we kind of just put it back a bit. But the EP will get released this year, and then the album gets released in 2018. So, you’ll hear from the EP the direction, about is pretty much where we are now.”

Cronos also talked about the evolution of VENOM‘s songwriting, explaining: “The thing is we, as a band, we are evolving the black metal thing. Because, for me, it has to be exciting, it has to be new, it has to be dangerous. It has to stay in motion. It has to make me excited to do it. I couldn’t just do the ‘Welcome To Hell’ night after night; it would be too boring. So, they know I like to be challenged. I need to create new shit, and I like to twist VENOM a lot and cut and pull it. I like to create an album that people kind of go, ‘That wasn’t expected.’

“For a band that’s been going this long, if we’re not going to continue to evolve, I think we’re dead. But you don’t want to forget where you came from. [You want] to be able to play songs from back in the day, so that the people in the audience can hear them and hear the song that they love — played the way that it was played. I think it is special.

“These guys [guitarist Rage, a.k.a. Stuart Dixon, and drummer Danté, a.k.a. Danny Needham] have got two [VENOM] albums under the belt now, that they can call their own. So, when they play their songs up on that stage, they can push and pull the bits they want, and they can play them in their style. But when we play the old songs, we kind of try to play them as near to the original we possibly can so, that the people in the audience hear a great version of the song rather than a changed version of the song. Because why change a great song?”

VENOM is not to be confused with VENOM INC., the band featuring original VENOM members Jeff “Mantas” Dunn (guitar) and Anthony “Abaddon” Bray (drums) alongside ex-VENOM bassist/vocalist Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan.

American industrial metal juggernaut MINISTRY, led by Al Jourgensen, has announced a co-headlining U.S. tour with experimental rap trio DEATH GRIPS. The trek kicks off at The Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts on October 13 and will hit Pittsburgh, Seattle, and San Francisco before concluding on November 11 at Gas Monkey Live in Dallas, Texas.

A special BLABBERMOUTH.NET presale will begin on Wednesday, July 19 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time and end on Thursday, July 20 at 10:00 p.m. local time. When prompted, type in the presale code “PIT” to access tickets before the general public.

MINISTRY debuted a new song called “Antifa” during its May 27 appearance at this year’s edition of the “Blackest Of The Black” festival, which took place at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado, California.

“Antifa” is expected to be included on MINISTRY‘s next studio album, “AmeriKKKant”, which will tentatively arrive this fall. The disc will feature guest appearances by DJ Swamp (Beck), Burton C. Bell (FEAR FACTORY), Arabian Prince (N.W.A.) and Lord Of The Cello.

Fans can pre-order the album now from PledgeMusic, where they can find a number of different pledge options, including opportunities to have their name listed among the album credits, get a copy of a signed lyric sheet, a personalized signed signature Al Jourgensen guitar, a vinyl test pressing, a happy birthday message delivered as an MP3 file, various merch options and more, all at staggered pricing.

In 2016, Jourgensen announced plans to record a new MINISTRY studio album to follow 2013’s “From Beer To Eternity”, despite previously saying there would be no further MINISTRY records after the death of longtime guitarist Mike Scaccia in 2012.

Jourgensen‘s side project SURGICAL METH MACHINE released its self-titled debut album in April 2016 via Nuclear Blast. The CD was recorded primarily at Jourgensen‘s home studio in Burbank, California with his longtime engineer Sam D’Ambruoso.